


one in ten thousand

by theriveroflight



Category: RWBY
Genre: Clovember (RWBY), Drabble Collection, Gen, Military, Nonbinary Character, Not Canon Compliant, Team as Family, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-01
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:40:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27335803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theriveroflight/pseuds/theriveroflight
Summary: For every ten thousand three-leaf clovers, there's a single four-leaf.A series of drabbles for Clovember.
Relationships: Marrow Amin & Harriet Bree & Clover Ebi & Elm Ederne & Vine Zeki, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 76
Kudos: 17





	1. Sleeve(less)

**Author's Note:**

> I am not doing all 30 days. I'm working on Nano and other writing projects, this is just a way to decompress.
> 
> Though I am a FG shipper, I'm aiming to focus these drabbles on Clover and the ace-ops' relationship - they aren't friends, they're family!

The uniforms aren't quite uniform. They're all Atlas colors - but the Ace-Ops find ways to make it their own.

It's individualistic, despite their military status. Perhaps it's because they're senior officers; they get more of a choice.

Clover chooses to go without sleeves to allow him more freedom of movement in his arms. Everywhere that's covered is especially warm so he can keep as much in as his exposed arms let out.

The other officers choose their own too - he doesn't interfere in their choices. Harriet's streamlined for running, Elm and Vine for their own things, Marrow's the most standard.


	2. Leadership

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clover gets told a lot he's a natural born leader.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote like 1.8k for Nano today and I know I'm going to crash sometime but...for now I'm doing okay. Chugging along.

Clover is often called a natural-born leader. He led his team at Atlas, and now he's leader of the Ace-Ops. But that's really just a title - he might be the main strategist, but they work together, play off each other.

Really, it's just a title. He's the tiebreaker when the others can't come to a consensus, and when other officers are around.

The other Ace-Ops all know, though, and they're meant to be five. He couldn't imagine anything else besides their team now, not when he has the experience with a team backing him up as good as they are.


	3. Colors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of true and adopted colors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought about doing "Clover comes out as gay" for this one but then I started thinking more about the color symbolism of Remnant and :sob:

They almost form a rainbow, if not for having two shades of green and nothing resembling purple.

Five people can't make one anyways.

They all wear the red, white, and blue of Atlas - in different concentrations, but white is the dominant color in their outfits. He thinks it looks better than blue or red as the dominant one - and blends in with the snow more.

Clover sometimes misses wearing green, but he thinks not wearing their own colors makes them look more like a team - and that's what matters to him. The pin is enough for him, because they're united.


	4. Wink

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> He winks at the others sometimes.
> 
> [Outside Perspective]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some minor (unrequited) wishbone and elm/vine/harriet hints because elm has two hands. also vine uses they/them because trans rights; they're agender

Clover winks at Elm sometimes. It isn't a flirty wink; it's a knowing one. It's a good thing he's okay with whatever is going on between her and Harriet and Vine because having a relationship with team members could end badly.

Clover winks at Marrow sometimes. The youngest of the bunch, Marrow knows he always blushes slightly but Clover is attractive and Marrow has eyes. He knows it isn't flirtatious on purpose - it's a reassurance that Marrow belongs.

Sometimes the winks go to Vine. They aren't sure why - knowledge, perhaps? Clover knowing scares them, but they know Clover won't tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> deleted for length, but Harriet:
> 
> Harriet is on the receiving end on some occasions. She has no idea why, it's not like she cares about the rest of them.


	5. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gets hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: hospital & injury mention.
> 
> I will eventually get around to replying to comments, I promise.

Huntsmen get hurt frequently. Clover's Semblance normally protects him & his team, but they have tough missions sometimes.

Harriet gets injured on one of the worst.

Clover blames himself for it. If he had kept his Aura going, or taken them out of the field when he was running low, she wouldn't have been injured.

Harriet sits up from the hospital bed. "Are the others here?"

"I gave them the day off. Just me. You're going to be okay."

"I never doubted that."

It's good to know that he has a team that will continue to back him up.


	6. Team

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Did you really think I would miss this one?

Clover was never meant to be alone. He's content to work with others.

The forging of Kingfisher is some outright _defiance_ because it works best when fighting with others.

The other Ace-Ops don't have as much of the same. Harriet and Vine were on the same team at the Academy, as Clover recalls, and Elm was on his team. And Clover couldn't be more honored to be Marrow's first official military team - he was on squads before but it isn't quite the same experience.

And of course, Clover is _eternally_ honored to be part of the larger team of the Atlas Military.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A reminder that this fic is tagged "Unreliable Narrator" for a reason.


	7. Second Chance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's only human to make mistakes, after all.
> 
> Outside perspective.

"Hey, kid." Marrow looks up to see Clover in front of him. "I know you are likely thinking you messed up today. That the team is going to abandon you. That is not the case."

"Okay." Marrow was thinking he fucked up. But he knows he earned his place, and Clover is slightly undermining that.

"Everyone makes mistakes. And I know i will, too." Clover winks. "Forgive me in advance. And I forgive you for yours."

Oh. Clover is...a little insensitive. But a good leader. Marrow respects the ability to apologise in a person - few spare him the courtesy.


	8. Support

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day 21 - Support
> 
> He needs to learn to lean on them, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> late entry wow /s
> 
> I need to write one for each remaining day to reach my chapter goal. I mean, I did say I might not reach it, but I'd like to. I'll get what I can, I suppose.

Clover avoids telling them when he needs support. He does, sometimes, as everyone does - but instead of asking, he goes to his quarters. There's a non-standard issue pillow within. He can hug it, pretend it's another human being, and move on.

But one time, his team doesn't let him. It's a rough mission - no one was injured, but all of them are drained. They don't let him escape - they play some mindless video game in pairs. It's...fun, and takes his mind off everything.

He needed that, he realises when he looks back on it. Support is a two-way street.


	9. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where, exactly, is home?

If home is merely the place you reside, then Clover's home is Atlas, the city of starlight and progress and flight. It's cold, but he has an unlocked Aura, so it's never bothered him. And Mantle, the city beneath, glows with a different sort of beauty than Atlas - not lesser or greater.

But if home is where the heart is, well...then it's with his teammates, with Elm, Harriet, Vine and Marrow. Not that he would tell them - someone might take it the wrong way. Besides, they aren't really supposed to have close relationships. But they do.

But they do.


	10. Orders/Beliefs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Questioning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Questioning is not intended as a double entendre but you may interpret it as such but be warned this makes it sadder

Clover hasn't questioned any orders since he first enrolled at Atlas Academy. Questioning orders gets you killed on the field. Questioning orders gets you thrown in the hole (later on, when he moves to the military). Questioning...never got any military man anywhere but doomed.

So he doesn't question - but sometimes he wonders if he should.

Wondering is close enough to the danger zone - but he doesn't receive orders often enough to get to the point of questioning them. He's the one giving them to his team generally, after all. And he doesn't need to question the orders he gives.


	11. Cold

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life on the tundra.

It's cold in Atlas. There is some climate control, but only in the city. They spend their time out of the field inside, at any rate.

It always has been, really. Clover has been acclimated from the start - but not everyone on his team was. Elm and Vine came from Mistral together, and Harriet was from Vale. 

(Technically, Argus is in Mistral - but far enough north where the cold could affect him. But it doesn't. Not anymore.)

He's almost caught hypothermia a half dozen times. They're all from when he was a kid, refusing to wear sleeves - then he adapted.


	12. Wish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Starlight, starbright...

Clover has never had to wish for much of anything before. He has a great team behind him, and a well-paying job where he does everything he ever could have wanted.

So, faced with anything he could ever want, why does he seek more? Why does he still yearn?

What could possibly be missing from his life?

Well - instead of focusing what's missing in his life, he focuses on what he has. A team. A family. A life he loves.

When he wishes upon whatever stars he can see through the light pollution...he wishes for it all to stay.


	13. Free Day - Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chosen families.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ironic this collection ends on unlucky number 13, huh? 
> 
> Every hour is found family hours.

The Ace-Ops are Clover's _family_. Elm, Harriet, Vine, Marrow - the love he feels for them is indescribable.

Harriet knows they're not supposed to be close. So she buries her affection - but it shows sometimes.

Elm considers Clover & Marrow like brothers. Harriet and Vine not familial, but she still loves them all.

Vine doesn't know how they feel for their team - hard for them to tell, but it's something.

Marrow has never been treated well by Atlesians. Even if the others say something unintentionally racist, in the end he'll forgive his team.

They aren't supposed to be bonded. But they are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been real. I had fun writing these, and they gave me a chance at relaxation. I finished my Nano project a few days back. It's going through some edits, but all of it will be posted by the end of 2020.
> 
> I have a FG fic coming out in early 2021, too, so I guess stay tuned for that. 
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me.

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me on Tumblr @beunforgotten (writing-only) / @alto-tenure (main).
> 
> Again, this will not be a daily occurance, but something to rest a bit from NaNoWriMo on. Fifteen is an estimate.


End file.
